


Unless

by intoapuddle



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-29 01:25:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18768355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intoapuddle/pseuds/intoapuddle
Summary: In a stormy London, where all hope is lost, Dan and Phil have the opportunity save two more lives.





	Unless

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alittledizzy (dizzy)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/gifts).



> A big happy birthday to Mandy! Thank you for being such a good fandom friend to all of us, and for sharing great stories with us for all these years. This fic is a bit of a throwback to the fandom we first met in. I hope you have a great birthday and that you enjoy the fics! <3

“No.”

Dan tries for a stern voice, something to catch your attention. It is as useless against Fred this time as it was the last. His black hair falling into his eyes, he simply regards Dan with the same patronising amusement as he always does.

“Phil has a headache,” Dan tries.

Fred shakes his head.

“Do you not think every last person in here is in pain?” he asks, and there’s an air of importance in his voice. “That not every last one of us has to fight against something to get through each day?”

It is exactly that voice that made him some type of authority in the London Underground, which countless people have taken to for shelter. That voice, and his extensive knowledge of London, was what really set it in stone. Dan sighs, not caring to hold back. He has nothing to prove to this guy. This isn’t a job he has to keep. Fred isn’t his boss. He is just another guy, just as on edge as the next person after being trapped down here for weeks on end.

“Sure,” Dan concedes. “Whatever. I can go alone, then.”

Fred frowns.

“No, Phil is going with you,” he corrects him.

Dan never wanted to punch another person in the face more.

As much as Dan needs to get out of here, the thought terrifies him. It is calm outside now; no one would be asked to go get provisions otherwise. But as much as the storms have been tracked and recorded over the last year to find some sort of pattern, every time Dan walks out of the shelter it feels like he is risking his own life.

Phil catches up to him when Dan turns away from Fred with an angry huff and starts walking towards the broken escalators. A timid, delicate hand on his shoulder and Dan stops. He takes a breath.

“What?” he asks.

Phil isn’t affected by his tone of voice in the least. He just eyes him suspiciously.

“What were you talking to Fred about?” he asks.

“Nothing,” Dan says.

He starts walking up the escalator, pushing any memories of them that don’t involve their current situation out of his mind. Phil follows closely behind.

“You were asking for a pass,” Phil mutters under his breath. “For my sake.”

Dan hums.

“Why’re you asking if you knew the answer?”

“I wanted to see if you would tell me the truth.”

They have reached the top when Dan looks at Phil dead in the eye.

“I don’t lie to you,” Dan says sternly. “Not about anything important.”

Phil swallows. He is tired. Dan can tell.

“I know.”

They share a look before Dan pulls him into a gentle hug. Phil squeezes Dan’s middle tightly between his arms while Dan’s lay limp between Phil’s shoulder blades.

“I miss your real hugs,” Phil whispers.

“I know,” Dan whispers back.

-

They walk as quickly as they can once they make it outside. Phil is fine, or at least that is what he keeps repeating every time Dan slows down. Dan eyes him in his peripheral at all times, looking for a single flinch or frown. In another situation, Dan would have had some morbid appreciation for the destruction of the city. The eerily empty streets, the angry clouds casting all the garbage and wrecked cars in a blue glow. As it is now, Dan barely takes in their surroundings. He is focused on the destination, and on Phil, and on the very real threat of the angry clouds turning outraged.

They make it to the underground provisions centre in minutes. Dan doesn’t care to exchange niceties, he simply states every item on the list and dumps his backpack on the counter. Phil fidgets next to him but exchanges a knowing smile with the person behind the counter. Dan listens to how the building creaks as a gust of wind thunders loudly outside.

Once they have their food rations for the month, Dan turns to leave without another thought. Phil follows dutifully, and brushes his knuckles against the back of Dan’s hand once they make it through the exit. Afternoon turning into evening means increasing strength in the winds. While they are subdued, they still manage to shake Dan to his core.

“We’re fine,” Phil says. “We’re almost home.”

Dan flinches.

“Don’t.”

It doesn’t matter how much Dan tries to put an edge to his voice, because between the two of them they understand that that response is one of pleading rather than an order.

“I’m supposed to be the superstitious one.”

Phil cracks a smile. Dan shrugs.

“We don’t have a persona to stick to out here,” he says in reply.

Phil’s smile fades from his eyes even though he is adamant to keep his lips upturned in the same fashion as before. Dan can’t look at it. He ups their pace instead. He wants to get away from the winds and the city he no longer loves. He needs the safe space in the London Underground where he can take some pleasure in stupid games and hurried kisses. The longer he is out of those confines the more he has to fight the panicked adrenaline pumping inside.

They are just about the turn the corner to safety when there’s a loud yelp coming from somewhere in close proximity. Dan stops immediately, eyes searching for the source of the sound. He looks around, not a single soul in sight, as Phil keeps walking.

“Did you hear that?” Dan yells over the loud wind.

Phil stops, shoulder slumping, and turns around.

“Hear what?” he yells back.

“Did you hear--”

Another yelp, louder this time, as if the source of it has come closer now. Phil heard it, too. Dan can see it in the way he attempts to act as if he didn’t.

“Phil,” Dan says.

Phil shakes his head, shoulders tight.

“I can’t hear anything, Dan,” he says. “Please? Let’s go?”

Dan puts a hand up and walks slowly towards him. Phil stays put, his bottom lip quivering just slightly.

“No lies,” Dan says once he is close enough.

He puts a hand on Phil’s arm, gentle, and wills himself to look straight in his eyes.

“Not if it’s not important,” Phil says.

Dan feels himself tense, and then something brushes against the side of his leg. He looks down, and there’s a dog. A dirty, white little dog wagging its tail, a long tongue sticking out between its teeth.

That loud, whining yelp comes from it yet again.

Dan looks up at Phil, incredulous. Phil doesn’t look surprised. He simply exhales, as if preparing for something.

“What the fuck?” Dan asks.

“Not important,” Phil says immediately, turning on his heel.

Dan is at a loss. The dog nibbles at his shoe, as if urging him to walk in its direction.

“Not important?” Dan yells. “Phil, come back over here!”

Phil keeps walking.

“Come on!” Dan yells, louder this time, and Phil stops.

Dan goes down to his knees and holds his hand out for the dog to sniff, but it doesn’t seem interested in the least. It runs a few step in the opposite direction, as if willing them to come look at something.

Once Phil has come closer again, he hunches down next to Dan.

“We have to go, Dan,” he urges.

There have been moments during all of this when Phil has shown sides that Dan didn’t know he had. This cold, goal oriented demeanor that Dan thought that he, in comparison to Phil, had more of.

“Let’s just go look,” Dan says. “It could be something useful to us.”

Phil sighs, but Dan already knows he has won.

“Fine,” Phil says and stands back up. “But it has to be quick. And if he takes us too far we can’t follow.”

“I know that, Phil,” Dan sighs in response.

-

They end up at a nearby park. The ground is covered in newspapers, stuck to the pavement as if someone purposely put them there, but they’re ripping off one by one from the power of the wind.

Dan immediately lays his eyes on what the dog has lead them to. It is another dog, sitting by a lone tree in the middle of a patch of grass. It is identical to the other one, though a bit smaller, a bit skinnier.

Dan shoots a look at Phil’s tense jaw and knows that this is something he will have to fight hard for.

Without a word exchanged, the two of them walk up to the tree and get to their knees, as the smaller white dog blinks its tired eyes up at them. Despite the fact that it seems injured, and unable to move one of its hind legs, it still wags its tail enthusiastically upon seeing them and paws at the ground to move closer.

Dan doesn’t hesitate before he puts a hand behind its ear, scratching a little bit. The dog immediately pushes its head into the touch, eyes closing. There’s something painful in the middle of Dan’s chest, pounding heavy as the other dog runs over to them and sits down between Dan’s legs.

“Dan,” Phil says.

He is already standing back up. Dan stays rooted to the ground, to the dull pain in the middle of his chest. He doesn’t want to leave it. He can’t. Phil puts a hand on his shoulder.

“We have to go,” Phil says, and his voice goes softer, gentler.

“We can’t leave them,” Dan hears himself say.

He doesn’t look up. He doesn’t want to see the expression on Phil’s face.

“Dan,” Phil sighs. “I thought you wanted to get back to safety quick.”

Dan’s hands shake. He looks down at the injured leg on the smaller dog, the way it kicks a little bit when Dan scratches his ear just so.

“We can’t save everyone,” Phil whispers.

He plays with the hair in the nape of Dan’s neck. Dan sucks in a breath.

“Come on,” Phil says when Dan doesn’t respond.

Dan snaps his head up at Phil and stares at him in disbelief.

“We’re bringing them,” Dan says, as if it’s decided.

“Dan,” Phil pleads.

“We can’t save everyone,” Dan says, and his voice cracks saying those words out loud again, “but we can save them.”

He gestures at the dogs.

“I don’t _care_ about them,” Phil grits out.

Dan gets up. He can’t look Phil in the eyes. He puts his shaking hands in his coat pockets and stares down on the ground, at the newspapers landing at his feet. The healthy dog puts it between its teeth and shakes his head, playing with it.

“Alright,” Dan says. “Whatever, then. As long as you don’t care about them.”

He starts walking away, anger surging inside. The healthy dog follows him, as if already dedicated to him. When Phil doesn’t follow, Dan turns around. Phil has gotten down on his knees, and he is scooping the smaller dog into his arms. For a moment, recollections flash in Dan’s head and he feels compelled to reach out, to help him along, to make sure Phil doesn’t hold it incorrectly. He stays put, though, and Phil gets up successfully as the dog licks his cheek. He walks over to Dan, holding back a smile. Dan holds back one of his own, too.

-

Back in the Underground, they get mixed reactions to the unexpected guests Dan and Phil brought with them. Some are delighted, immediately drawn to them and scratching their ears, urging reactions out of the dogs. Others are wary, angry about having two more mouths to feed. They have more than enough to provide for a couple more dogs. God knows there are plenty of them already down here with their owners.

After the dogs have been fed, Dan and Phil get a bowl of porridge each and sit down inside their tent. On top of a dingy mattress and a pink blanket, the dogs sit with them. Dan finishes his meal quickly, just to be able to put his hands all over the dogs to feel for any more injuries. There are only a few surface level wounds. They are, somehow, seeming to be doing okay save for one leg.

“Enoki,” Phil says after a few minutes of silence, out of nowhere.

Dan looks back at him. He is laying back against a pillow, with the injured dog on his chest. There’s a little scroll between his fingers that he is reading from.

A memory of a future Dan used to long for flashes behind his eyes. A moment just like this one, of Phil on his back with a cute dog on his chest that they could call their own. Dan pushes the memory back. It is painful to look at now, the fluffy pillows and neat surroundings of the forever home they planned for too stark a contrast to their current situation.

“What’s that?” Dan asks, shuffling to lay next to Phil.

“They have collars on,” Phil says as he rolls the paper back up and places it neatly inside the clasp on the collar around Enoki’s neck. “You can’t tell because of the fur.”

“Enoki,” Dan echoes.

When the injured dog’s head immediately snaps to the side to look at him, ears pointing forward in attention, Dan can’t help but smile.

Phil kisses his cheek, and Dan feels something broken try to put itself together inside.

“Look at the other one,” Phil suggests, voice low.

The other dog has a collar on as well, and though the scroll on this one is dirty and wrinkled it clearly spells out another name.

“Edo,” Dan reads out, then repeats it in a few different pronunciations until the healthy dog starts to wag its tail.

“That’s your name!” Phil exclaims excitedly when Edo burrows in between them, tongue hanging out.

He pets Edo’s head and grins. Dan rests his head on Phil’s shoulder and smiles to himself.

“I can’t believe they’ve survived all of this,” Dan says, quietly.

Phil hums.

“Me neither,” he whispers back.

Tomorrow promises a beginning to some type of rehabilitation. To clean the dogs up and find out what is wrong with Enoki’s leg. For now, all of their bellies full, all they want to do is rest.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3
> 
>  
> 
> [>Here's a link to the tumblr post<](https://intoapuddle.tumblr.com/post/184761054233/unless-its-important-g-23k-danphil)


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